Exaggeration, inaccuracy, oversimplification and hate-mongering. No one wants to describe society's "fourth pillar" like this. But the Eurocrisis has turned out to be a serious test for national media in Europe.

Many have known Václav Havel as a dissident and politician who influenced the history of the Czech Republic. But he was also a thought-provoking political philosopher, a poet and a playwright. What can Europe learn from Havel?

Historian, writer and public intellectual Umberto Eco is concerned with the complexity of life rather than simple truths: a European warning voice when stereotypes find their way into the public discourse.